


What If?

by annabethcaser



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:27:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6163984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabethcaser/pseuds/annabethcaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She would always be my biggest 'What if?'"</p>
            </blockquote>





	What If?

The ocean lapped gently at Percy’s feet, though not wetting them at all. He stared at the horizon, his face blank, and his fists dug into the sand a little bit deeper. Someone was behind him. If things were like they used to be, he would’ve been scared; he would’ve wondered who it was. But not here. Here, there was only one option.

“Come along, my brave hero. Dinner is starting soon, and then I thought we could garden.” Percy turned around, and pressed his lips to Calypso’s, wrapping arm around her waist. When he pulled away, he couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll be there in a moment. Just let me put on my shirt.”

“Do you have to?” Percy rolled his eyes at her, but his shirt remained in his pocket when he got up.

“You’re lucky you’re a goddess, missy.” He grabbed her hand, and kissed her forehead. As they walked across the island, Calypso started humming. It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place the tune. It was beautiful. A little bit hopeful, a little bit like falling in love. His grip tightened on her hand.

* * *

It was after dinner, and they were both in the garden. The only thing that illuminated them were the plants themselves. As usual, it was beautiful. Percy could hardly believe he had once not known the name of a single plant. Now, he knew them all. In fact, he probably knew the layout of this garden better than he knew the layout of Manhattan, where he used to live. It definitely was more beautiful than Manhattan. Though maybe that was less about the plants themselves, and more about the girl working in them.

Calypso’s hair hung over her shoulder in a long braid, and she was treating the leaves so delicately. She was wearing a cotton shawl over her normal white dress; it was starting to get cold even here. Her eyes reflected the light of the plants, until they looked silver themselves. When she was like this, she looked more beautiful than all of the Olympian goddesses combined.

“Hey, less looking, more working!” Percy ducked as an immortal goddess threw a clump of dirt at his head. Calypso looked pretty pleased with herself. Right up until the dirt hit her in the face.

* * *

When Hermes showed up, it was the middle of the night. He was having a perfect, dreamless sleep, like he always had here. Calypso got up first. She kissed him gently, and he sleepily tried to pull her back down onto the bed, but she shook him off and went outside. After a fair amount of yawning, Percy followed, and leaned against the opening of the cave, trying to spot who was there. She was kneeling on the ground, in front of a weary-looking UPS delivery man. He grinned weakly when he saw Percy.

“Perseus Jackson! You look like you haven’t aged a bit!”

“With all due respect, Lord Hermes, why the hell are you here?” Calypso shot Percy a chiding look; she never liked it when he cursed. Especially in front of gods.

“I know I haven’t been here in a few years. I’ve been busy, with the Titan war and all,” he paused for Percy’s reaction, and when there wasn’t any, he continued.

“Anyway, I thought you should know something. Calypso, you don’t need to kneel, this news is for you too. It’s over. We won.” Now he was wide awake.

“We… we won?” Hermes nodded slowly, breaking into a full smile. Percy wasn’t sure how to react. He should’ve been happy. But he also shouldn’t have been told this news by someone else. He should’ve been there.

“Um, no offense, but how did you win without me? I am the hero of the prophecy, after all.” He gave a smirk with that last part.

“Nico di Angelo.”

“But Nico’s only eleven! He can’t handle an army!”

“You’ve been on Ogygia for five years, Percy. A lot has changed.” Percy wanted to say something that Calypso definitely wouldn’t approve of. Five years…

“So was that all you wanted to tell us, Lord Hermes?” He looked at Calypso gratefully.

“Well…no. You see, we gave all of the particularly notable soldiers of the war one request. One of those was Annabeth. And she gave a list of friends she had lost and wanted to see again. And, well, you were one of the names.”

Calypso spoke up again. “Annabeth is coming… here?” She had a strange look on her face, like she couldn’t decide whether to be excited or worried. Hermes nodded.

“I just wanted to give you some warning. She’ll be here in a week; we have a lot of people to visit.” Percy wondered how she could have so many dead friends. He wondered how many he had. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Hermes was already gone. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Calypso looked up at him, and her lips pursed very tight for a moment, like she wanted to say something. Instead she just smiled weakly. “Let’s go back to bed, ok?”

* * *

Normally time tended to slip away on Ogygia. An hour slipped into a week slipped into a month, until a year had passed. But that week seemed like the longest of Percy’s life. Annabeth. His best friend. She was coming. Here.

The last time he had seen her, they had both thought he was going to die. And they had said goodbye. And then she had… kissed him. That’s the one detail that Percy couldn’t get over. Annabeth had kissed him. And then she had left.

Did Hermes even tell her that he wasn’t dead? What does someone say to their best friend after five years? What does someone say to their best friend who thought they were dead? What does someone say to their best friend who _kissed_ them?

He could tell Calypso was worried about him. The sea, normally perfectly calm and clear, had rough tides, with dark water. Like when a storm is coming. Percy just knew something had to mess this up. He had found a girl who loved him. He had a girl who _he loved back_. He loved Calypso. She was sweet, and beautiful, and quiet, and she never hid what she was feeling. It wasn’t complicated when he was with her. When he was with her, there were no prophecies, no monsters.

When he was with her, he didn’t feel so goddamned guilty all of the time.

“Percy?” He looked up. Calypso was at the mouth of the cave. She looked so sad. “She’s here.”


End file.
